Courtyard House: I, the eldest son of the Jia family, have returned from the battlefield.

It's late at night, past ten o'clock.

As Jia Dongming was embracing the exhausted and sleeping Qin Huairu, Yan Bugui's urgent shouts suddenly rang out from the courtyard:

"Section Chief Jia! Section Chief Jia! The factory's security department is looking for you; they say it's urgent!"

The shouts woke the two people inside.

Jia Dongming opened his eyes. It was pitch black outside the window, and only Yan Bugui's voice sounded anxious in the night wind.

When Qin Huairu woke up, her heart was pounding. She whispered almost into Jia Dongming's ear, "Brother Dongming... there's Uncle San outside."

What if he finds out about our affair?

Jia Dongming felt the body in his arms tremble slightly, so he stroked her smooth back with his palm and said in a very steady voice, "Don't panic, I'm here to protect you."

He first calmed Qin Huairu down, then raised his voice and called out to the door, "Third Uncle! Please wait a moment, I'll put on a coat and come out."

Jia Dongming dressed neatly and quickly walked to the front yard.

Yan Bugui was standing behind the door with a flashlight in his hand. When he saw this, he smiled and stepped forward: "I feel really bad that you have to get up so late."

As he spoke, he shoved a box of Daqianmen cigarettes into the other person's hand.

As soon as Yan Bugui touched the cigarette box, a smile immediately appeared at the corner of his eyes. As he unlatched the door, he said, "Section Chief Jia, you're too kind. Watching the door is just my job."

You just go ahead and do your work; just let me know when you're back.

Jia Dongming said no more, nodded, and stepped out the door.

Chen Qiang, the security officer guarding the door, immediately stepped forward and whispered, "Chief, the third squad discovered someone had sneaked into the logistics warehouse during their night patrol."

By the time we got there, the person had already disappeared.

Given the current situation... we're worried it might be related to enemy agents, so we came to see you without delay."

Just two days ago, the steel rolling mill uncovered a case involving enemy agents. At this critical juncture, someone has managed to sneak into the warehouse. The suspicious nature of this is self-evident.

Jia Dongming's heart tightened—wasn't Qin Huairu working in the logistics warehouse?

He immediately instructed Chen Qiang: "Wait here for me for a moment. I'll go back and ask my sister-in-law if there are any important items in the warehouse. Once I've found out, we'll go back to the factory together to check."

Chen Qiangli readily agreed: "Mingbai, Section Chief."

Jia Dongming turned around and went back into the courtyard. Seeing Yan Bugui still guarding the door, he greeted him with a smile, "Third Uncle, wait for me a little longer. I'll be right back after asking a question at home."

Although being woken up in the middle of the night to open the door would be annoying for anyone, Yan Bugui felt it was worth getting up, since he had the bag of Daqianmen cigarettes in his pocket. He replied, "Go ahead and go. I'm old and don't need much sleep, it's no problem."

After that night, Jia Dongming had other plans in mind: it was inconvenient to disturb others in the middle of the night all the time, so it would be better to open a small door on the side wall of the other courtyard, so that there would be less trouble in coming and going at night in the future.

He hurriedly returned to the room, where Qin Huairu was making the bed. She looked surprised when she saw him return.

Jia Dongming asked directly, "Huai Ru, have any important supplies arrived at the logistics warehouse in the past two days?"

Qin Huairu paused for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, the supplies that have been put into storage these past few days are all ordinary labor protection products, nothing special."

"Dongming, something happened at the warehouse?"

Hearing her say that, Jia Dongming secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone softened: "The security department discovered someone sneaking into the warehouse at night. I was afraid there was something important inside, so I came back to ask."

"Since there's nothing urgent, I'll go back to the factory to deal with it first."

You should get some rest.

Qin Huairu suddenly remembered something and chased after her to the gate, whispering, "When you come back, just call out from outside the wall, and I'll open the gate for you in the front yard."

Jia Dongming paused, turned around and said, "My job involves going in and out in the middle of the night quite often."

Summer is fine, but in the dead of winter, it's really inappropriate to always make the third uncle crawl out of bed to open the door.

"Master Mingri Lei is here. I'll discuss with him whether we can open a small door on the wall facing the alley."

From now on, when I go out at night, I won't disturb the front yard.

After thinking it over carefully, Qin Huairu, who had also witnessed the situation over the past few days, nodded in agreement: "Your consideration is correct."

People might not mind if it happens once in a while, but if it happens too often, anyone would feel unhappy.

"Let's open our own door; it'll save everyone trouble."

As the night wind carried the distinctive rusty smell of the steel plant, Jia Dongming and Chen Qiang hurried back to the rolling mill, only to be greeted by a figure at the factory gate.

The visitor was the squad leader of the Third Brigade of the Security Department. After standing still, he lowered his voice and reported to his superior: "Section Chief, good evening."

While on patrol, Li Ping urgently needed to relieve himself and went to a secluded spot on the west side. In the distance, he caught a glimpse of a shadow swaying against the wall near the logistics warehouse.

He paused briefly before continuing, "At first, Li Ping thought he was seeing things, so he turned on his flashlight and shone it on. The shadow was startled and disappeared in an instant."

By the time we got there, they had vanished without a trace.

This matter seems suspicious, and we dare not delay, so we sent Chen Qiang to invite you.”

Jia Dongming remained calm and listened, then asked only, "I asked the logistics department before I came, and they said there's no essential winter food in the warehouse recently."

His gaze swept over the silent factory outline under the night sky, his voice low but clear: "No matter who comes, daring to mess with the logistics warehouse at this critical juncture is tantamount to stepping on the face of the security department."

The perpetrators must be found.

The group moved silently and quickly to the north wall of the warehouse.

Squad leader Zhao Jun pointed to a spot at the base of the wall: "Section Chief, this is it."

Look at this wall paint—”

The beam of the flashlight pierced the darkness, illuminating several fresh scratches and stomps on the brick surface.

As Jia Dongming stared intently, those traces seemed to be redrawn and revealed by some invisible force, instantly presenting a coherent and clear trajectory of movement—climbing, pausing, retreating in fright… each step was marked as distinct as a brand.

He immediately concluded that the person had not succeeded in entering.

Moving the gaze downwards, a line of footprints extends into the depths of the factory area on the muddy ground.

Jia Dongming held out his hand: "Give me the flashlight."

Zhao Jun hurriedly handed it over.

The beam of light immediately locked onto the footprints, and Jia Dongming followed the trail, with the others close behind.

The footprints were initially quite clear, but after walking about forty or fifty meters, they gradually became messy and faint, almost blending into the dust.

But this didn't stump Jia Dongming.

Without stopping, he led the group straight to an old poplar tree by the winter wall of the factory area.

A beam of light rose, illuminating a fresh scratch on the tree trunk. "People got up here,"

Jia Dongming's voice was exceptionally clear in the silence, "Using the strength of this tree, I jumped onto the locust tree outside the wall and climbed over."

They probably came in using the same method.

The beam of light then fell back to the ground beneath the tree, where two footprints lay side by side, one of them deeply embedded with rumpled soil around its edges. "Look at this—it's from the force of a jump from that height."

Several security guards stared at the footprints, their eyes filled with admiration.

Zhao Jun blurted out, "Section Chief, so you mean he's a repeat offender? Using these two trees to climb over the wall?"

"Not just this time."

Jia Dongming shone the light back onto the poplar trunk, illuminating several old marks that were slightly darker in color and covered with a thin layer of gray. "The old climbing marks are still there."

This isn't the first time this person has come and gone.

He paused, then focused the beam of light on the footprints on the ground again. "Shoe size is about forty."

Based on stride length and indentation depth, his height is estimated to be between 1.65 and 1.75 meters, and his weight is approximately 120 to 140 kilograms.

besides……"

He slightly moved the spotlight to illuminate the subtle differences between the two footprints. "Notice the outer heel of the right footprint; it's more worn, and there was a slight outward tilt when it landed."

This person has injured their right foot, so they probably don't walk very well, and may even have a limp.

Zhao Jun bent down for a closer look, then asked in confusion, "Section Chief, the depth looks about the same, how did you tell it was lame?"

Jia Dongming glanced at the curious faces of the crowd, a slight smile playing on his lips, and pointed out, "Take a close look at the right footprint—isn't the outer side of the heel pressed down more firmly and at a greater angle than the left? When a normal person walks, the weight is evenly distributed between both feet."

His fall was caused by his injured leg losing strength, and he subconsciously used the outside of his foot to share the weight and maintain balance.

Although the traces are faint, the trend doesn't lie.

The beams of light converged on the muddy ground, illuminating the pair of footprints in minute detail.

At first, no one noticed anything unusual. It wasn't until Jia Dongming pointed it out that everyone was surprised to find that the outer edge of the right footprint had a barely perceptible crookedness, as if the ankle had momentarily gone limp when it was stepped on.

Chen Qiang stared at the mark, and when he looked up at Jia Dongming, his eyes were filled with undisguised admiration: "Section Chief, if you hadn't mentioned it, we would have really missed it."

"These slanted marks...it seems that person had a chronic injury to their right foot."

Jia Dongming didn't say much, only waved to signal everyone to follow.

The group searched outwards along the edge of the wall, their flashlight beams cutting through the night like blades.

Before long, they found scratches on the bark of an old locust tree outside the wall, and then they discerned a deep and shallow footprint on the muddy ground.

Jia Dongming bent down to examine it closely for a moment, then got up and walked deeper into the alley.

The alley is narrow and winding, with low courtyard walls on both sides.

Seven or eight minutes later, the footprints disappeared in front of a mottled wooden door.

Jia Dongming stopped and his gaze swept across the courtyard before him like that of a hawk.

In a moment of concentration, he seemed to be able to see through the brick wall and see a figure leaning against the headboard in the winter wing—the person's right leg was stiff and his movements were inconvenient.

He focused his gaze even more intently.

There were some dusty metal blocks piled up under the bed, shaped like scraps commonly found in factories.

"Section Chief?"

Zhao Jun's hushed voice pulled him back to reality.

Jia Dongming snapped out of his daze, pointed to the two-courtyard siheyuan, and said in a steady voice, "The person is inside, in the winter wing."

The guards looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

Chen Qiang couldn't help but press, "Are you sure? Just based on the footprints we've been following?"

Footprints don't lie.

Jia Dongming's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable force.

He turned to Zhao Jun: "First, send someone to scout around the yard, then send a quick one to climb in and open the door from the inside."

Be gentle.

A young security guard silently climbed over the wall, and a moment later, the gate creaked open slightly.

As Jia Dongming stepped inside, his gaze quickly swept across the ground—there were several fresh mud stains that stretched intermittently toward the winter wing.

He gestured to Zhao Jun and whispered, "The man is in Dongxiang."

I don't know if he brought any weapons; we have to be quick, we can't give him time to react.

Zhao Jun gripped the gun handle tightly.

The tracking went smoothly, and although he was full of doubts, he was even more convinced of the new section chief's abilities.

He gestured to the two team members behind him, and the three of them crept up to the side of the winter wing room door like night owls.

The silence lasted only a moment.

Zhao Jun suddenly kicked the door! The wooden door swung open with a bang, and he rushed in first, the beam of his flashlight piercing the room like a sword.

A figure on the kang (a heated brick bed) jumped up in fright, but before he could regain his footing, he was firmly locked in place by a bright circle of light and the black muzzle of a gun.

"Don't move!"

Zhao Jun's shouts echoed in the cramped room.

The two guards followed Zhao Jun's directions and pounced on the figure who sprang up from the bed almost simultaneously, pressing the middle-aged man, who was trying to escape, back onto the bed.

Jia Dongming stepped into the winter wing and reached out to turn on the light.

The instant the light flooded the room, a guard exclaimed in surprise, "It's Old Qian from the boiler room!"

Old Qian, pinned to the bed, froze at first under the direct beams of several flashlights, then turned ashen-faced and desperately twisted his body, screaming, "What are you doing? I didn't do anything! Why are you arresting me!"

The guards inside recognized the face at the same time, exchanging surprised glances—Yang Shu was behind the boiler room, and the features that Jia Dongming had deduced from the footprints matched perfectly with the limping old Qian in front of them.

In an instant, when everyone looked at Jia Dongming again, their eyes were filled with admiration.

Jia Dongming stared at Lao Qian, who was struggling and crying out for his innocence, and demanded sharply, "Lao Qian! You keep saying you didn't do anything? Do you even believe that yourself?"

After saying that, he waved his hand around and shouted, "Search!"

The guards responded immediately, and the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets filled the room.

"Comrades, which unit are you from? What right do you have to arrest Qian San?"